The Graying of "Sexual Health": A Critical Research Agenda‪.‬

EARLY IN 2010, a study published in the British Medical Journal introduced a new health expectancy indicator: "sexually active life expectancy" (Lindau and Gavrilova 2010). Defined as the "average remaining years of sexually active life," the authors argue that such an indicator will be useful in "projecting public health and patient needs in the arena of sexual health" (Lindau and Gavrilova 2010, p. 818). This study is only one of a spate of recent publications demonstrating the upsurge in interest in older adults and their "sexual health." (1) Reversing the long-held stereotypes of asexual or postsexual seniors, expectations of continued sexual functionality as an indicator of health in later life now underpin a growing medical and therapeutic industry. Clearly, new agendas have emerged which have put the relationship between aging and sexuality at center stage for both scientific research and public health promotion.